Promises, love and life
by Frezza
Summary: Sasuke promised to come back for Naruto, but then Sasuke hears that Naruto is dead! Few years later he returns to Konoha,and he finds out that he isn't dead, but missing. But how, and why? Sasukes happy ending is on-hold. ItaNaru? SasuNaru? T later M.
1. Prologue

Promises, love and life

Summary: Sasuke promised to come back for Naruto, but then Sasuke hears that Naruto is dead! Few years later he returns to Konoha, to find out the truth about Naruto, and he finds out that he isn't dead, but missing. But how, and why? Years go by, and when Sasuke finally finds him, he founds out that things don't always go how he wants them to go, and that his happy ending is still far away..

Rating: T, later M

Pairing: ItaNaru, or SasuNaru, depending how my story decides to circle around. Sasuke and Naruto are still the main characters, the story goes on around them.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

"Normal speaking"  
_Thoughts_

**Prologue**

Sasuke stood there, watching Narutos shallow breathing. He wasn't dead, he knew that much. How did he know? Well, he was still breathing, and because he confirmed that he was alive. He didn't want Naruto dead, even though someone might think so. He fought Naruto with all he had, and said those hurtful things, but in reality Naruto was Sasukes the most important person. It pained him to hurt Naruto, but it had to be done. If Sasuke wanted to kill Itachi he had to get strong first, and for that he needed that disgusting snakes help.

Sasuke carefully caressed Narutos cheek before he turned around and ran away. He knew that someone was coming sooner or later, and he needed to run away before that happened.

_I promise that I'll come back for you one day._

Sasuke ran through the forest until he arrived to Orochimaru's hide. He was welcomed heartily by the snake.

_I promise._

_

* * *

_"Good job in killing the orange idiot", Orochimaru said suddenly few days later, while they were training.

"What? I didn't kill him. I need a rival, someone to test my powers against before I can kill my brother", Sasuke answered with his emotionless façade on, while in reality he was worried what had happened to Naruto for Orochimaru to think he was dead.

"Well, if you didn't kill him someone did. His clothes were found next to your hitai-ate bloodied and burned", Orochimaru said, now wondering what happened in reality. His spies hadn't mentioned any abnormalities in the happenings, they had just automatically assumed that Sasuke had killed Naruto, and because of the Kyuubi the body had disappeared rather than dying like a normal person. Did the Akatsuki find him instead, or was this another of Konoha's plots, Orochimaru ended his wondering.

"Hn, that dobe just probably faked his death or something", Sasuke answered. "I'm going back now, I didn't come here to chat, I came here to train."

The second Sasuke was sure there were no one around, and that he was in the sanctuary of his room, for now, his face changed. It was full of sadness and confusion.

_Naruto could not have died. He was supposed to become the Hokage. He was supposed to bring me back to Konoha. He was.. He was.. He wasn't supposed to die! He was supposed to be waiting for me in Konoha. Waiting for me to come back! _

Sasuke buried his face into his hands, but he didn't cry. He didn't even sob. He just tried to think about the situation rationally, as he was trying to calm down and but his thoughts back into order. But easier said than done.

_He could not have died before fulfilling his promise to Sakura. It's his way of ninja! To never give up and to never go back his word. He would not fake his death. There was no reason to do that._

After wallowing in these thoughts for almost an hour he finally made his resolve.

_ As soon as I am strong enough, I will kill Orochimaru and go back to Konoha to found out what happened in reality. At least if Naruto really is dead, I would be able to fulfill his last promise.. Killing Itachi can wait that much. Right?_

Sasuke had no idea how much more could go differently than what he thought, planned and hoped.

* * *

A/N: This was only the prologue. All the other chapters are going to be at least 2000 words. Any thoughts? Questions? Wonderings? You can review, flame, criticize, say something? English isn't my native language, so all advises about my grammar are greatly appreciated. I'll update every week, the day just changes.


	2. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1 Fulfilling a promise**

Sasuke was running to Konoha. He knew that there was a chance that he would be sentenced to death but he was hoping that they wouldn't, that for some insane reason he would be too valuable to be killed.

It has been almost 3 years since Sasuke last saw Konoha. After determining few days ago that he is strong enough to kill Orochimaru, he jumped into action and succeeded. It had been tough 3 years. He spent most of his time there training, only taking breaks to eat and sleep. That was to make sure he would be strong enough to kill Orochimaru, and after that Itachi.

Sasuke noticed that he was getting closer to Konoha and prepared to face the guards that he felt approaching him. He jumped down from a tree and stood still in the little opening in middle of the forest. A moment later he was surrounded by 8 guards that he now realized were actually ANBU, and not just some normal chuunin guards he expected to encounter. After all, why would there be at late afternoon ANBUs guarding? He tried to be more careful and keep the sharingan from surfacing, because he was quite sure it wouldn't seem peaceful to approach the village he had deserted and went to their enemy to get trained. And even he would probably lose against 8 trained ANBU.

After making sure they wouldn't attack him he slowly raised his hands and talked in a calm voice.

"I'm not back here to cause harm to Konoha. I have come back after killing Orochimaru the snake sannin. I would like to meet the Hokage to discuss about me rejoining the village and to give over some valuable information that I have acquired", Sasuke spoke while trying to see reactions from the ANBU, in vain. His voice sounded a bit rough from not speaking very much, as if he had ever talked much. It must've been one of his longest speeches ever, Sasuke mused to himself while waiting for the ANBU to do something.

The ANBU seemed to use some kind body language because few seconds later an ANBU with a bear mask on talked.

"If you want to come back to Konoha without us using force on you, you must allow us to take your holdings, put this chakra binding on you and seal your sharingan." Sasuke nodded without hesitation and proceeded to take off his katana, few scroll and kunais to give them to an ANBU who had come closer to him. He avoided eye contact and after giving the weapons to the ANBU, he closed his eyes and held his hands on his sides. It didn't feel right to his Uchiha pride, but it couldn't be helped. He had to help Naruto to fulfill his last promise possibly. Sasuke still wasn't sure if Naruto truly was dead, but he hadn't heard even a whisper about Naruto since Orochimaru mentioned him soon after he arrived. Although he wanted to believe that Naruto was alive, it didn't seem quite likely.

_But soon I will know, because in Konoha they have to know what happened to him. Or he might even be there himself!_

_

* * *

_The ANBUs were quite baffled. They had felt someone powerful coming closer, and when they had identified it as Uchiha Sasuke, they were sure he was coming to Konoha to attack it with Orochimaru. They were quite surprised to see the Uchiha stopping, and they didn't waste any time to surround him. After he had spoke the ANBU's were more than baffled. The Uchiha Sasuke, coming back to Konoha, by free will, claiming to have killed Orochimaru, the snake sannin? They were sure it was some kind of a plot so they decided to be careful. They were sure the Uchiha wouldn't bend to their proposition, but when he did, without blinking, the ANBUs couldn't help but to think that what the hell was going on.

After sealing Sasukes chakra and sharingan, one of the ANBUs, a man with a zebra mask, tied Sasukes hands behind his back and then throwed the Uchiha onto his shoulder, because the Uchiha wasn't able to run as fast enough now that his chakra was sealed. They started to run back to Konoha in a formation which kept the zebra masked ANBU with Uchiha on his shoulder in the middle. They were moving quite fast because they didn't want to risk if it after all was a plot and there would be coming reinforcements. They sent a messenger bird ahead of them to go and inform the Hokage that she should request the head of TI to her office and prepare to meet a shocking person. They would have mentioned that the person is Uchiha Sasuke, but Hokage-sama had told them not to put any delicate information to be delivered by messenger birds for the fear of someone kidnapping the birds.

* * *

Tsunade had been having a bad day. First of all, Shizune had confiscated all of her sake. All of it. Even the super secret sake bottle that had an illusion on it! Tsunade had no idea how she had even found it. Then the councilmen had come and bitched about various stuff. From the change of their toilet paper from silky to not so silky for budget reasons and about not sending ninja to go and get their 'oh so precious Uchiha' back from Orochimaru. As if all this wasn't enough, the villagers weren't satisfied because the village was 'so boring' and they should have a festival or some sort of a party. Even though Tsunade tried to explain that they couldn't afford it because people weren't hiring as much ninjas from Konoha as they used to, and their money was still a bit low from Orochimarus attack.

Tsunade sighed. What else could happen today? And right at that moment Shizune bursted in with a note.

"Tsunade-sama! A messenger bird from the ANBU just arrived with this note", Shizune explained while she proceeded to walk forward and give the note to Tsunade. Tsunade read the note with small frown on her face and then gave orders to Shizune.

"Shizune! Call Morino-san and Mitarashi-san here, as soon as possible. Tell them they are going to be meeting someone shocking, apparently."

"But Tsunade-sama, if the head of the TI is asked here it's probably an enemy of some sorts, shouldn't this be handled over the TI headquarters instead of in the Hokages office?" Shizune asked confused.

"No. The ANBUs who were patrolling today are bringing someone and apparently this situation needs to be handled carefully, with closed doors. I trust into ANBUs ability to judge such situations", Tsunade answered without a moment of hesitation. She knew that whoever they were bringing was someone who would bring more trouble to her day.

* * *

Sasuke was feeling quite uncomfortable. He wasn't used to be such close to someone, and it took to his pride to be carried like a back of potatoes.

_Well, it is better this way than to be carried in a princess style._

Sasuke shuddered slightly to an idea, that some stranger would carry him as if he was a girl. He could feel like they were getting closer to the village. Only few more minutes, and he would meet the Hokage and find out is it true that Naruto is dead.

Tsunade was sitting behind her desk a bit anxious. Next to her were Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko standing quietly looking serious. Although, you could see the smirk trying escape onto Ankos face. The next second the ANBUs appeared in front of the desk.

"Hokage-sama", they greeted her with a small bow and then the leader with the bear mask gave a sign to the ANBUs who were guarding the Hokage to leave the room. After that he performed a jutsu to make sure that only the people inside the room were able to hear what was spoken. The bear masked ANBU glanced at the snake summoner, but left it alone after quick nod from the Hokage.

"Report", Tsunade ordered.

"Today approximately at 5 p.m we felt a powerful chakra approaching Konoha. We went to secure that the person wasn't a threat, and then we reached this person", at that moment the zebra masked ANBU came forward and dropped the Uchiha to the ground in a way that his face could be seen by the people behind the desk. His eyes were open, but on his forehead you were able to see a seal that prevented him from using the sharingan. Small gasps were heard but no one questioned anything yet. Anko looked as if she was ready to murder the Uchiha in a second, but Ibiki noticed this and raised his hand on Ankos shoulder in attempt to keep her calm.

"Carry on", Tsunade said after getting over the initial shock.

"He claimed that he has arrived without any means to harm Konoha or its citizens. He wants to rejoin the village, claiming that he has useful information to us and that he has killed Orochimaru the snake sannin", ANBU repeated as if he had rehearsed it.

"WHAT?" was the first thing that they heard. This was yelled by a very angry kunoichi who herself had wished to kill the snake sannin herself.

"It's not possible, that kid is just a.. a… KID! There is no way he is powerful enough to kill that sick bastard of a snake!" Anko kept on raging.

"Silence Anko, or I will have you removed from this conversation", Tsunade ordered after second time today coming out of a shock. Anko looked as if she was going to tell the Hokage to piss off, but a swift glare from Ibiki made Anko shut her mouth.

"Sheep, you will go and search if it is true that Orochimaru is dead. You may choose 3 men of choice to go with you", the slug sannin said to the man standing behind the Uchiha. The man nodded and then nodded to one other of the ANBUs and both of them poofed out of the room.

"Uchiha, you haven't said anything yet, why that is?" the Hokage inquired from the silent boy, no man, well more a man than a boy, on the floor after analyzing him silently for few minutes. His hair hadn't changed much, it was a bit longer, his body was as fit as any shinobi's and he was wearing some pretty ugly clothes.

"I believe it is part of the common courtesy to not speak to someone in a higher position without permission or without being questioned", the Uchiha answered. It was clear that he was only behaving so he would have better chances to be accepted back to the village. He was sitting on the floor on his knees while his hands were bind behind his back.

"Hmm, at least you have learned some manners in your absence", Tsunade said while smirking lightly at the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Sasuke, what are your reasons for coming back to Konoha?"

* * *

Sasuke was kneeling on the floor, and waiting for him to be questioned. The crazy lady from the chuunin exams was glaring at him behind the desk. With her was that Ibiki dude, who also was at the chuunin exams. It seemed as if they hadn't changed at all. Ibiki too was watching him, but more in a way how you watch someone you don't trust, or you need to find out if that person can be trusted. The Hokage wasn't watching him at the moment, but she was listening to the ANBUs report and giving orders.

Okay, now Sasuke was getting nervous, although he didn't show it. The Hokage had been staring at him for about few minutes intensely and she had also grimaced at him, for a reason he did not know.

After that, the Hokage posed him a question, and he tried to be as polite as possible. Even, if it meant giving up his pride for the moment. He guessed that he succeeded when he saw the Hokage smirking at him. Then she asked the question that he had been dreading the most.

"Uchiha Sasuke, what are your reasons for coming back to Konoha"?

* * *

A/N: Booyah, I had plenty of energy so I checked the first chapter for any mistakes, although, there still might be some. This is this weeks chapter, and next chapter will be up next week. Thanks for the favs, for the review, and I hope to hear some feedback, and I will be extremely glad for pointing out my grammar errors. Hope you enjoyed, and cya next week!

P.S! Taking suggestions for better story name, I kinda hate the one I have now.. I suck at titles.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch.2 Reasons or more so, a reason**

"Naruto."

It felt as if the world stopped for a minute. Everyone were shocked, no one knew what to say. They could only stare at the Uchiha shocked.

"ANBUs, you may leave and return to your guard posts. I've got the situation under control", Tsunade said sounding absolutely _freezing._ You could see her tightening her grip on the chair and biting her teeth together. The TI specialists were just shocked. No one would've guessed that the Uzumaki kid would be the Uchihas reason to return. The ANBUs bowed slightly and hastily poofed out of the room. The silence continued, only thing that could be heard was breathing and the squeaks that came from the chair from being crushed.

"Explain", could be heard as a hiss from between the enraged sannins teeth.

"After the fight in the Valley of the End, I promised Naruto to come back after I'm strong enough", Sasuke answered simply. As if he was going to tell them that he was in love with Naruto and promised to come back to him.

"At first I was going to come back after killing Orochimaru and my brother, but then I heard this absurd rumor that I had killed Naruto, even though I'm one hundred percent sure that when I left he was alive. Seconding my point is also the fact that I do not have the Mangekyo Sharingan. And as soon as I was strong enough I killed Orochimaru and came straight back here. Killing Itachi has to wait for a while longer. But Naruto, is he really dead?" Sasuke asked, no more looking as calm as he had, when he started speaking. You could see him trembling slightly and swallowing profusely. And he rambled. He had never, ever rambled before.

The Hokage couldn't help but be awed. Thanks to one boy, who everyone had scorned and made fun of, is the reason for few of the strongest shinobis return. And yes, she was meaning herself and Sasuke. She could feel the power radiating from the man, even when his chakra was sealed. And if it was true that he had killed Orochimaru, then he was even stronger than what his appearance gave to understand. But should she tell him the truth, or should she lie. But wait, Sasuke was going to kill Itachi?

"Uchiha, do you not know that Itachi is dead?" Tsunade asked looking bewildered.

As they watched Sasukes shocked expression that slowly turned into rage, and even though his chakra and sharingan were sealed, his eyes still tried to bring forth the sharingan, unsuccessfully though. No one said anything. They were silently waiting for the Uchiha to calm down, or to say something. After a while his emotionless mask was back on and he was staring the floor he was kneeling on.

"When?"

"Few weeks after you left to train with Orochimaru. It was said that for some unknown reason he started to fight against the _true _leader of Akatsuki, with few other members. You must know at least something about Akatsuki, because after all Orochimaru used to be part of it", Tsunade answered knowing what the Uchiha wanted to know.

"It was said that he was the only one of the members that died, but he did take the true leader with him. Then the rest of the organization disbanded because their objective wasn't possible anymore. The members scattered around", she continued with a sad tone creeping into her voice.

"Then it's true, the rumor that Naruto is dead", Sasuke asked quietly, assuming that the objective wasn't possible because Naruto was dead. His voice was as quiet as a whisper as he started to shake. Had all of his reasons to come back, to be alive, disappeared?

"No", the slug sannin said but then continued, "he is missing. There is no information where he is, with who and in what kind of trouble or is he safe."

Sasuke let out the breath he had been holding. Naruto wasn't dead! But then he started to wonder about things so he asked.

"How do you know that he is alive?"

"That is classified information that is not to be released. Actually I wasn't supposed to tell you that he is alive before I determined can you be trusted. Now Morino-san and Mitarashi-san will take you to the interrogation cell where you will be held and questioned. After hearing what you have to say and determining is all of the information you told us true, we will decide what shall happen to you", the Hokage answered being tight lipped after her mistake of telling that Naruto is alive, and that he is missing. She could see how the Uchiha glared at her, demanding to know what happened to Naruto, but he had enough common sense to not start threatening the Hokage when he was supposed to earn her trust to be able to find out about Naruto. He only slumped to the ground hanging his head down, waiting to be taken to the interrogation cell.

* * *

Few days later the rumors started circulating. The most common was 'Orochimaru is dead, and he was killed by Uchiha Sasuke'. After that came the rarer one that almost nobody believed: 'Uchiha Sasuke has returned to Konoha'.

No one talked about Naruto anymore. Sometimes you could hear someone praising the Uchiha about how he had killed the Kyuubi brat, as they were not told the truth. They also were sure that Naruto was the reason why the Uchiha left, and that even after he had killed Naruto, he didn't come back because he was sure to be executed, because the Hokage had an attachment to the Kyuubi brat. These people were also the ones that believed that the Uchiha had finally returned to Konoha, for he was strong enough to beat the Hokage now, and she wouldn't be able to execute him.

Talking about the Hokage, she was at the moment sitting in her office reading a report about how they had found Orochimaru dead from one of the bases Sasuke had informed them about. What they had not expected was that Kabuto had taken Orochimarus place and was now the Nidaime Otokage (Second Sound Shadow). They had been barely able to escape Kabutos men after making sure that Orochimaru was dead.

Tsunade was feeling overly stressed because of all the problems the Uchiha had caused. If he hadn't went to Orochimaru in the first place, Naruto would still be in Konoha, and she wouldn't have to deal with the problems in hand now. She still remembered when Kakashi came back on that fated day with Narutos jumpsuit and two hitai-ates with him. One unscratched, Narutos, and one with a slit across the Konoha mark, Sasukes.

FLASHBACK

Tsunade had had a rough night healing the Sasuke rescue team, but everyone was stable now. She was still waiting to hear something about Naruto, when a dejected looking Kakashi appeared into the room she was getting some rest at the hospital.

The first thing Tsunade concentrated her eyes on was Narutos orange jump suit, sans Naruto. But before she could even ask about what had happened, Kakashi started to talk, sounding a bit absentminded.

"He isn't dead. Naruto. Or at least that's what I assume. When I got to the place where apparently Naruto and Sasuke had fought, there was a strange man dressed in all black drawing seals on Narutos body. I started to rush to Naruto, but the man noticed me. He activated the seals, and in the next moment both of them were gone, and only the jumpsuit and the hitai-ates were there on the ground", Kakashi ended his explanation about the happenings. Kakashi was obviously bothered about these happenings. After all, it's not every day you lost two thirds of your team, without them dying. His clothes were dirty and ragged, and his normally gravity defying hair was hanging a bit. Even though he was trying to keep his composure, you could see he was on the verge of losing it. He had lost his own teammates and his own sensei, and now he had lost even his own students, without knowing will they ever come back.

Tsunade was shocked about his knowledge, but she couldn't break down. Not now. Instead she stood up.

"Kakashi, we will talk about this later. Go rest and I'll summon you when it's the time to finish this talk", Tsunade said, and few seconds later Kakashi shunsined away, after bowing, leaving behind a very tired Hokage.

END OF FLASHBACK

Just as Tsunade finished reminiscing the event, Kakashi popped into her office.

"Hokage-sama", Kakashi started. "Is the rumor true about Sasuke coming back to Konoha?"

Tsunade considered a bit, should she tell him about Sasuke or not. Before she could decide, Shizune came running into her office, shouting.

"Tsunade-sama! They have just finished interrogating Uchiha-san!"

The slug sannin wanted to facepalm.

_Well, at least I have one more decision less to make._

"So it is true. Shouldn't I have been informed Hokage-sama? After all, he was my student", Kakashi asked in his seemingly cool attitude.

"You were to be informed after we finished interrogating him and after we decided what to do with him. That are we able to trust him", Tsunade answered, using her 'I'm the boss, I make the rules' voice. "Not even the council is aware of Uchiha being here, although, I'm quite sure it won't be long before they know too. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if few of them rushed inside right now."

After saying this, everyone in the room stared at the door for awhile, but quite soon figured that they won't rush in right now.

"How about him killing Orochimaru? Is that true too?" Kakashi questioned next, curious about his students strength.

"Yes, that's true too. He is strong. Very strong."

"If he is so strong, why did he come back? Actually, I see no reason for him to come back, although Itachi is dead", Kakashi wondered, obviously considering different possibilities in his head.

"Hmm, if I had to guess I'd say he came back to continue the Uchiha family. Am I right, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said while his eye curved into upside down U.

"Actually, no. I was quite surprised for his reason to come back. That boy never ceases to surprise me.." she answered in a saddened tone.

"Sasuke? When was the other time he surprised you?"

"No, I was talking about Naruto. Sasukes reason to come back was Naruto", Tsunade answered. Kakashi looked a bit shocked, but quickly settled his face back to his usual bored look.

"Yes, those two, for some reason, have a bond so strong that I have never seen anything like it before", Kakashi said.

"Yes. Now Shizune, you told they have ended the interrogation?"

"Yes. It looks like the info he has given was all true, and the Yamanaka has confirmed that he has no intentions to betray Konoha", Shizune answered while handing the report from TI. "Now would be time to contact the council to discuss about his punishment and possibility about him joining back to our forces."

"Ahh, we might just as well wait for them to come to us. Less work for me", Tsunade answered while looking for her sake bottle.

"Tsunade-sama! You need to work properly!" Shizune reprimanded her.

Kakashi just shook his head and exited the office. When he had heard the rumor about Sasuke, he at first just couldn't believe it. It sounded so impossible, and unlikely. He restrained himself for few days and just tried to read his beloved Icha Icha books, but in the end he had to go and ask Hokage about it.

But he still didn't understand why Naruto was the reason he came back. Naruto isn't here, and you wouldn't believe he'd care so much about Naruto after punching a chidori through his chest. He knew about it because only chidori would have left such marks into the jumpsuit.

He was quite strong even then, but if he had been strong enough to kill Orochimaru, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder..

_How strong is he now?_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Helloo. I'm so happy I got this up on time. Well barely, but still. I had a terrible week, and I'm so glad I managed to arrange some time for myself to finish this chapter. Nothing radical yet, but soon stuff will start happening. Thanks once again for favs, alert, and comment! I hope you liked this chapter, and once again, if you have any questions or something to say about my grammar, or about the story, drop a review for me. Cya next week!_  
_


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